Stationery article and method



1967 B. STAl-LIMER 3,306,632

STATIONERY ARTICLE AND METHOD Filed D90. 30, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. BERNHARDT STAHMER BY/W/F M ATTORNEY Feb. 28, 1967 B. STAHMER STATIONERY ARTICLE AND METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1965 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,306,632 STATIONERY ARTICLE AND METHOD Bernhardt Stahmer, 1509 Chicago St., Omaha, Nehr. 68102 Filed Dec. 30, 1965, Ser. No. 517,634 Claims. (Cl. 28225) This invention relates to letter forms and analogous stationery articles. In particular, this invention provides a simple and economical stationery article, onto which the entire message and dispatch information may be imparted from a single direction to facilitate the stemgraphic operation, said completed letter being readily fold-able into a securely sealed mailable envelope which effectively conceals the body of the letter during transit.

There are in the prior art correspondence type stationery articles that may be folded into a sealed mailable envelope suitable for postal dispatch, but the prior art structures do invariably possess one or more of the following disadvantages. Most prior art stationery articles of this general class are of non-rectangular configuration including outwardly-extending side flaps, thus necessitating special non-rectangular dies to provide the stationery article; in so providing a non-rectangular structure, there is inevitably a great deal of raw material waste attendant with the manufacturing operation. With nearly all prior art embodiments, it is necessary to inscribe the addressee identification and other dispatch information on one side of the stationery and to inscribe the body of the letter on the reverse side; thus, in the case of generally utilized typewritten inscriptions, it is necessary that the stenographer laboriously remove the stationery article from the typewriter and to re-insert it in reverse order so as to complete the required inscriptions. Many of the prior art structures require an expensive transparent window panel to reveal the inscribed addressee identification; with this common type construction, it is difficult for the stenographer to position the addressee identification so that it will be in registry with the transparent panel upon folding the stationery article into envelope form. Certain of the prior art devices require several exacting steps to fold the article into the envelope configuration, and in many cases it is an exacting procedure for the addressee recipient to open the envelope without a physical dissection or mutilation of the letter communication;

It is accordingly the general object of the present invention to obviate all of the aforementioned objectionable features of the prior art.

It is one of the specific objects to provide a stationery article, that is foldable into a dispatch envelope, that may be economically fabricated without the incorporation of expensive transparent window panels and which may be provided without waste from ordinary size rectangular paper stock without the use of any special cutting dies.

It is another specific object of the present invention to provide a stationery article upon which the addressee identification and other dispatch information, together with the body of the letter, may be inscribed from a single side of the stationery to allow the stenographer to typewrite the required graphic matter continuously and without interruption of the typing operation.

It is another object to provide a stationery article with which the addressee identification and other dispatch information, together with the heading of the letter may be inscribed simultaneously in a simple and direct single operation.

It is yet another object to provide a stationery article, together with a simple folding method therefor, to provide a mailable envelope suitable for postal dispatch and transmission.

It is another object to provide a stationery article that may be folded manually or mechanically into scalable envelope formation, so that tampering of the envelope to gain access will be impossible without leaving evidence of such action.

It is a further object to provide .a stationery article that may be folded into a sealed envelope formation which may be simply opened by the addressee recipient to provide a neat and compact letter, with the post mark being integrally attached to the reverse side to provide an integral record as to the posting date thereof.

With the above and other objects in view which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the novel form, combination, and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein like numbers refer to like parts in the several views and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the stationery article of the present invention, comprising a folded rectangular sheet material to provide a dual panel stationery construction.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the stationery construction of FIGURE 1 in its unfolded state.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the stationery construction of FIGURE 1 in its unfolded state.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the stationery article of FIGURE 1 fully developed and sealed into the final envelope form.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the stationery article of FIGURE 1 at the first folding step toward providing the ultimate envelope form.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the stationery article of FIGURE 1 at the second folding step toward providing the ultimate envelope form.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the stationery article of the present invention in its unfolded state.

As can best be seen in FIGURES 1-4 inclusively, the stationery article 10 comprises a rectangular sheet material 11 having two parallel elongate sideward edges 12 and 13 and two shorter parallel transverse edges including leading free edge 14 and a trailing free edge 15. The rectangular sheet material 11 has a visible transverse line 16 that is substantially parallel to transverse edges 14 and 15, said visible line 16 being located nearer to leading edge 14 than to trailing edge 15. Transverse visible line 16 preferably indicates a structural weakening of sheet material 11, as in the form of hyphenated scoring, or a linear array of perforations, or a permanent structural first crease 16. Sheet material 11 is folded into the dual-panel construction of FIGURE 1, first crease 16 being at the juncture between a longer lower panel 17 and a vertically aligned shorter upper panel 18. Consequently, sheet material leading edge 14 is disposed above lower panel 17 between first crease 16 and sheet material trailing edge 15, nearer to first crease 16. Upper panel 18 is in face-to-face abuttable superimposition upon lower panel 17, i.e. the lower surface 24 of upper panel 18 directly abuts the upper surface 21 of lower panel 17. Transverse first crease 16 provides the anterior end of the stationery article, and the rectangular sheet trailing edge 15 provides the posterior end for the stationery article.

Lower surface 24 of upper panel 18 is integrally provided with a strip of adhesive 25 along sheet material leading edge 14. The adhesive material may be of the pressure-sensitive type or may alternatively be of the water-activatable type that is commonly employed for sealing envelope flaps.

Lower surface 22 of lower panel 17 is integrally provided with a transversely disposed linear indicator, herein as a broken imprinted line 29, said linear indicator being substantially parallel to and being disposed between first crease anterior end 16 and stationery posterior end 15. As will be explained later in greater detail, broken line 29 indicates the position of a third crease 30 that will be provided. to form the trailing end of the envelope 50. Linear indicator 29 must be located nearer to stationery posterior end 15 than to first crease anterior end 16.

Lower surface 24 of upper panel 18 is integrally provided with a pressure-releasable layer 26, layer 26 being confined to those areas of lower surface 24 not occupied by adhesive 25. Pressure-releasable layer 26 preferably comprises finely divided carbon or other pigment matter in admixture with a waxy or soft resinous continuous phase, such pressure-releasable layers being commonly employed with carbon paper utilized for making simultaneous copies of written or typewritten graphic matter. The color of the pigment constituent of layer 26 differs from that of sheet material 11, particular from that of lower panel upper surface 21. In order to conserve upon the amount of layer 26 to be employed, layer 26 is preferably restricted. to minor areas of surface 24, and the location of layer 26 on surface 24 is indicated with a rectangular boundary indicator 27 imprinted on upper panel upper surface 23. Accordingly, sparingly employed layer 26 is in vertically aligned registry with boundary indicator 27.

Upper surface 23 of upper panel 18, which will ultimately provide the upper face of envelope 50, may conveniently include the addressors identification at the corner juncture of first crease 16 and elongate sideward edge 12. Similarly, the upper surface 21 of lower panel 17, which will ultimately provide the surface for the letter communication, may also conveniently include the addressors printed identification or letterhead. The ad dressors identification on surfaces 23 and 21 may be pre-applied by a professional printer, and in such a case, areas of surface 24 in vertical alignment with the addressors printed letterhead should be free of pressurereleasable layer 26. However, in those cases where the addressor desires to hand write or typewrite his own identification, then layer 26 should occupy more extensive areas of surface 24 appropriate to the desired positions for to permit the addressors identification to be simultaneously inscribed upon surfaces 23 and 21.

Operation and method for use of stationery article 10 is as follows. First, the addressees identification is imprinted Within rectangular boundary 27 either by means of a typewriter or by hand, hand writing being indicated in the drawing. With the presence of pressure-releasable layer 26, the addressee identification is simultaneously transmitted from upper panel upper surface 23 to lower panel upper surface 21. Although the addressors identification has been indicated in the drawing as being preprinted thereon, if professional pre-printing is not employed, the addressors identification may be similarly imprinted by the stenogra-pher, provided that pressurereleasable layer 26 is appropriately positioned on surface 24. Then, the stenographer imprints the written message onto those areas of lower panel upper surface 21 which are positioned between sheet material leading edge 14 and stationery posterior end 15, i.e. that portion of surface 21 visible in FIGURE 1. If typewriting is employed, since imprinting is directed toward a single surface of stationery 10, the entire communication including the dispatch information may be graphically imprinted without removal of the stationery from the typewriter.

Following completion of the communication and other graphical markings upon the stationery, lower panel 17 is folded into a dual-layer construction to provide a second crease 20 at the juncture of an upper layer 38 and a lower layer 37. As can best be seen in the FIGURE perspective view, the rectangular sheet trailing edge 15 is substantially parallel to and lies adjacently along first crease 16; thus, the elongate lengths of layers 37 and 38 are substantially equal, and creases 16 and 20 are substantially parallel. Rectangular sheet trailing edge 15 is disposed between upper panel 18 and lower panel 17, upper layer 38 being disposed in overlying relationship with respect to the carbon print reproduction of the addressee identification on upper surface 21 near first crease 16. The distance between first crease 16 and second crease 21) is greater than that between first crease 16 and leading edge 14, and accordingly, upper panel 18 has a smaller broad surface area than does either of the layers 37 or 38 immediately therebeneath.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the 3738 dual-layer structure is folded along linear indicator 29 to provide a third crease 30 disposed within both layers 37 and 38, said crease 30 providing the trailing end of the ultimate envelope 50. Second crease 20 is disposed between upper panel 18 and upper layer 38. Moreover, second crease 20 is substantially parallel to and positioned between first crease 16 and third crease 30, nearer to third crease 30. Accordingly, the rectangular sheet leading edge 14 lies parallel to and between second crease 2t) and third crease 30. Next, adhesive layer 25 is activated to adherently attach upper panel 18 to lower panel lower surface 22 at areas disposed between parallel creases 20 and 30, to complete the ultimate envelope 50 which may be appropriately posted and dispatched to the addressee. The addressee may open envelope 50 by inserting a letter opener between panels 17 and 18 and slitting along first crease 16. The resultant letter apparent to the addressee is the upper surface 21 of lower panel 17. Specifically, that portion of upper surface 21 between crease position 16 and sheet leading edge 14 (as shown in FIGURE 1) presents addressor letterhead and addressee information, While that portion of upper surface 21 actually exposed in FIGURE 1, between sheet leading edge 14 and sheet trailing edge 15, presents the graphic communication directed to the specific addressee. Obviously, if crease 20 were positioned very close to crease 16, the letter would apt to be dissected and mutilated upon slitting with a letter opener.

Thus, it has been seen that when graphic matter is imprinted onto the stationary article 10 toward upper panel upper surface 23, the graphic message results upon the lower panel upper surface 21 in vertical alignment with surface 23. The pressure-releasable layer 26 provides means for transmitting the identification image directed toward upper panel 18 onto surface 21 so that it may be viewed by the addressee as a portion of the received correspondence as well as on the upper surface of envelope 50. In other words, upper panel 18 has means to transmit graphic matter directed upon the stationery onto the vertically aligned lower panel upper surface 21, said directed graphic matter appearing both on upper panel upper surface 23 and on lower panel upper surface 21. A pressure-releasable layer is only one such means; as shown in the FIGURE 7 perspective view, a central opening 61 within upper panel 18 is an alternate means. Opening 61 is analogous to boundary 27 and when the addressees identification is inscribed within opening 61 of upper panel 1 8, it is transmitted to lower panel upper surface 21 but is also apparent at upper panel upper surface 23. When the opening 61 type means is employed, care must be taken so as not to cover the addressee identification on surface 23 with layer 38 since there is no independent addressee identification on upper panel upper surface 23'. Thus, when providing the 3738 dual-layer structure, the rectangular sheet trailing edge 15 must not extend nearer to first crease 16 than the central opening 61. This latter requirement results in a greater distance between the first and third creases, thus making the distance between the envelope anterior and posterior ends 16 and 30' respectively, greater than that shown in FIGURE 4.

Obviously, conventional carbon paper may be employed at lower panel lower surface 22 to provide a carbon copy of the inscribed letter in conventional fashion. Further, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer may be alternatively carried by lower panel lower surface 22 between the second and third creases rather than by upper panel lower surface 24.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the stationery article will be readily understood and fur- .ther explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of writing stationery that is readily foldable and scalable into a confidential dispatch envelope, said writing stationery comprising: A'rectangular sheet material having two parallel elongate sideward edges and two parallel transverse edges including a leading free edge and a trailing free edge, said rectangular sheet material having a permanent transverse first crease located nearer to and in parallelism with the leading transverse edge of the sheet so as to provide two vertically disposed abutting panels, the upper panel being of shorter length than and superimposed upon the longer lower panel, said transverse first crease providing the anterior end of the dualpanel stationery article, said rectangular sheet trailing edge providing the posterior end of the dual-panel stationery article, integral adhesive means for attaching the lower surface of the upper panel along the leading edge of the rectangular sheet to the lower panel lower surface, the upper panel having means to transmit graphic matter directed upon the stationery onto upper surfaces of the lower panel vertically disposed with respect to the upper panel, the lower side of the lower panel having a transversely disposed linear indicator that is parallel to and disposed between the first crease leading end and the stationery trailing end, said transverse linear indicator being disposed nearer to the stationery posterior end than to the first crease.

2. The stationery article of claim 1 wherein the upper panel means for transmitting graphic matter onto upper surfaces of the lower panel is a pressure-sensitive layer releasably attached to the upper panel lower surface, the color of said releasable layer differing from that of the sheet material, and wherein the adhesive means is integral with the lower surface of the upper panel along the leading edge of the rectangular sheet. 9

3. The stationery article of claim. 1 wherein the upper panel means for transmitting graphic matter onto upper surfaces of the lower panel is a central opening within the upper panel.

4. The stationery article of claim 2 wherein the upper panel upper surface has a boundary indicator for directing or imprinting graphic subject matter onto the stationery, said pressure-sensitive releasable colored layer being vertically aligned with respect to the boundary indicator and occupying a minor area of the upper panel lower surface.

5. The method of preparing a scalable confidential dispatch envelope of graphic intelligence, said method comprising the following steps:

A. Folding a rectangular sheet material along a transverse visible line to provide a stationery article having a permanent transverse first crease, said stationery article comprising two parallel transverse free edges including a leading free edge and a trailing free edge, said permanent transverse first crease being located nearer to and in parallelism with the leading transverse free edge of the stationery article, said permanent transverse first crease being at the boundary between two vertically disposed abutting panels, the upper panel being of shorter length than and superimposed upon the longer lower panel, said transverse first crease providing the anterior end of the dual-panel stationery article, the upper panel having means to transmit graphic matter directed upon the stationery article onto upper surfaces of the lower panel vertically disposed with respect to the upper panel,

B. Imprinting graphic intelligence onto said stationery article toward the upper panel upper surface thereof so that the graphic intelligence results upon the lower panel upper surface in vertical alignment with those areas of the upper panel toward which the graphic intelligence is directed,

C. Folding the lower panel into a dual-layer construction to provide a second crease that is disposed Within the lower panel, said rectangular sheet trailing edge being parallel to and lying adjacently along the first crease, said rectangular sheet trailing edge being disposed between the upper and lower panels, the second crease within the dual-layer construction being substantially parallel to the first crease and to the rectangular sheet leading transverse edge, the upper panel having a smaller broad area than the dual-layer construction therebeneath whereby the rectangular sheet free leading edge is disposed between the said first and second creases,

D. Folding the previously folded dual-layer structure to provide a third crease that is disposed within the dual-layer construction, said third crease providing the trailing end of the envelope, the second crease being disposed between the upper panel and the previously folded dual-layer construction and being substantially parallel to the first and second creases, said second crease being positioned between the first and third creases nearer to the third crease, the rectangular sheet leading edge being disposed to lie parallel to and between the second and third creases, and

E. Activating an adhesive integral with the stationery article to adhere the lower surface of the upper panel adjacent to the sheet leading edge to the lower panel lower surface at areas disposed between the second and third creases.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,170,434 2/1916 Engel. 1,567,875 12/ 1925' Swanson 229-921 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,895 1909 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. D. M. BOCKENEK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE OF WRITING STATIONERY THAT IS READILY FOLDABLE AND SEALABLE INTO A CONFIDENTIAL DISPATCH ENVELOPE, SAID WRITING STATIONERY COMPRISING: A RECTANGULAR SHEET MATERIAL HAVING TWO PARALLEL ELONGATE SIDEWARD EDGES AND TWO PARALLEL TRANSVERSE EDGES INCLUDING A LEADING FREE EDGE AND A TRAILING FREE EDGE, SAID RECTANGULAR SHEET MATERIAL HAVING A PERMANENT TRANSVERSE FIRST CREASE LOCATED NEARER TO AND IN PARALLELISM WITH THE LEADING TRANSVERSE EDGE OF THE SHEET SO AS TO PROVIDE TWO VERTICALLY DISPOSED ABUTTING PANELS, THE UPPER PANEL BEING OF SHORTER LENGTH THAN AND SUPERIMPOSED UPON THE LONGER LOWER PANEL, SAID TRANSVERSE FIRST CREASE PROVIDING THE ANTERIOR END OF THE DUALPANEL STATIONERY ARTICLE, SAID RECTANGULAR SHEET TRAILING EDGE PROVIDING THE POSTERIOR END OF THE DUAL-PANEL STATIONERY ARTICLE, INTEGRAL ADHESIVE MEANS FOR ATTACHING THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE UPPER PANEL ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RECTANGULAR SHEET TO THE LOWER PANEL LOWER SURFACE, THE UPPER PANEL HAVING MEANS TO TRANSMIT GAPHIC MATTER DIRECTED UPON THE STATIONERY ONTO UPPER SURFACES OF THE LOWER PANEL VERTICALLY DISPOSED WITH RESPECT TO THE UPPER PANEL, THE LOWER SIDE OF THE LOWER PANEL HAVING A TRANSVERSELY DISPOSED LINEAR INDICATOR THAT IS PARALLEL TO AND DISPOSED BETWEEN THE FIRST CREASE LEADING END AND THE STATIONERY TRAILING END, SAID TRANSVERSE LINEAR INDICATOR BEING DISPOSED NEARER TO THE STATIONERY POSTERIOR END THAN TO THE FIRST CREASE. 